Finchel: The Musical
by GleeThings
Summary: A series of finchel-centred oneshots inspired by songs that I've listened to. I take requests for songs/stories that you'd like me to write so just let me know! Read the first chapter to know more.
1. Pretending

**A/N: So, I wanted to write more finchel fics, but because of college I knew that I wouldn't be able to update a multi-chap fic as much as I'd like to. Therefore, this is my answer. On here I will post one-shots that have been inspired by songs that I've listened to, each chapter will be a new song and a new story, most of them AU.**

 **I will also take requests for songs/stories that you'd like me to write, as long as they're finchel related.**

 **This is the first story, inspired by the Glee song 'Pretending'.**

* * *

 _Will we ever say the words we're feeling_  
 _Reach down underneath and tear down all the walls_  
 _Will we ever have our happy ending?_  
 _Or will we forever only be pretending?_

* * *

Finn stood with his back against the wall, looking on as Rachel danced happily with her Dads. When it came to parties, Finn had always been a bit of a wallflower, largely due to his two left feet. He preferred to watch from the sidelines and just bust out the moves internally, rather than embarrass himself and risk the well-being of those around him by dancing externally. However, parties were usually a place to be happy and to celebrate, but this party was quite the opposite. It was Rachel's goodbye party.

She had finally done it. She had finally graduated high school and got a place in NYADA: her dream college. She was going to go to New York and live out her dream on Broadway, Finn was sure of it. Unfortunately, New York had nothing to offer Finn. He hadn't got into his college of choice and had therefore decided that he would stay in Lima and work for Burt, which he didn't mind because he didn't have big ambitions like Rachel did. The only thing that broke his heart was the thought of a life without Rachel living right around the corner.

Ever since they were kids they had been best friends. When they were in kindergarten, all the other kids had found out that Finn didn't have a dad and they started treating him strangely. Just because he was different and, even at such a young age, freakishly tall, he was teased constantly and no one would be his friend. Until one day when a tiny brunette called Rachel Berry came wandering up to him. She said, "Is it true that you don't have a dad?" Finn had shyly nodded in response, expecting more laughter and judgement. "Well, I have two and I don't mind sharing." Had been Rachel's response, and ever since the pair had been inseparable. Now he was older, Finn knew that the other kids only picked on him because he was different and they didn't really know what else to do, but at the time he was pretty damn upset about it, until he met Rachel. Even from a young age the small brunette had known how to put a smile on Finn's face.

When they got to high school they went down very different paths. Finn was an athlete; he made the football team and the basketball team and even gave lacrosse a try, while he passed his other classes by the skin of his teeth. Rachel was a drama nerd; a member of the glee club and the drama club and every other club she could join, while passing her classes with flying colours. The laws of the school hierarchy said that Finn and Rachel should have been enemies. Finn should have slushied Rachel every chance he got, while Rachel took it without complaint. However, Finn and Rachel broke those rules and continued to be best friends, despite the heat that Finn got from his jock friends and head-cheerleader girlfriend.

They had been through so much together, through good and bad, and now Rachel was leaving to live in another state, miles away from Finn.

Just the thought made Finn's chest hurt and he tried to forget about it. He tried to look on the bright side: that they could text and call each other and skype all the time; that she was only a train ride away and they could visit each other on alternate weekends. It helped dull the pain a little, but not much.

"You look like crap." Finn was pulled out of his depressing reverie by the flattering comment and looked to see his step-brother beside him.

"Thanks." Finn commented sarcastically, though it didn't hold much humour.

"You're really going to miss her, aren't you?" Kurt asked, putting his hand on Finn's shoulder to try and comfort him.

"She's my best friend." Finn said sombrely, never taking his eyes off the girl in question. "The longest I've gone without speaking to her has been a couple of days whenever we were having a stupid fight, and now she's leaving."

"Seriously, you're still calling her that?"

"Calling her what?"

"Your 'best friend'." Kurt stepped in front of Finn to make him look at him. "You're not fooling anyone, Finn. We all know that you are absolutely head over heels for Rachel, and we know that she feels the same way about you, one of you just needs to admit it."

"What?" Finn frowned, feeling himself starting to blush. "I don't love Rachel. I mean, I do, but only because we're friends. I'm not _in_ love with her."

"You don't have time to be in denial." Kurt pressed on. "Rachel is leaving so you need to tell her how you feel and stop pretending that you're OK with just being friends."

"You're crazy." Finn stated, and attempted to walk away from his brother.

However, Kurt grabbed his arm and kept talking. "Listen, I know why you haven't told her already. You're scared that if you do then she might not feel the same way and you're friendship will be ruined. But Finn, she's leaving tomorrow. What have you got to lose?"

Finn pulled his arm away and walked towards the door. He needed some air right now. He had thought he had done a great job at hiding his feelings for Rachel and that no one knew that he was secretly in love with his best friend. But if Kurt knew, then who else knew? Did his mom know? Did the people at school know? Did his ex-girlfriend know? Was that why she hated that Finn was friends with Rachel? Oh God, did _Rachel_ know?

"Finn." An all too familiar voice sounded from behind Finn and he stopped in his tracks. He turned around and let his eyes fall on the girl in front of him.

Rachel was wearing a black dress tonight, with her hair curled in the way that Finn loved. Rachel had always said that she was ugly. She thought that she was too small, that her nose was too big, that blondes were prettier than brunettes, and that her smile wasn't as nice as all the other girls' from their school. Finn had personally never agreed with any of that, but tonight it couldn't be further from the truth.

Finn loved how small she was because it made her look cute, he loved her nose because it reminded him that she wasn't perfect but was still beautiful, he loved the colour of her hair and he thought that her smile could light up even the darkest night. It was true that he was head over heels in love with her but he'd lie about it any day.

"Are you OK? I've barely seen you all night." Rachel said, her eyes full of concern.

"I'm fine." Finn assured her, offering her his signature half-smile. "I'm just going to miss you."

Rachel's eyes softened. "I'm going to miss you too, but we'll still talk all the time. Well, I'll probably do most of the talking, but you can pretend to listen and it'll be like nothing's changed." Rachel laughed slightly at herself, though Finn could see the sadness lying beneath. He knew her too well.

What Kurt had said was playing in his mind like a broken record. Should Finn tell Rachel the truth? Kurt had said that Rachel felt the same way about him, but how could he possibly know that? Finn thought back to the last few months with Rachel to see if Kurt was right...

Wait... Rachel had curled her hair tonight. She always said that she hated curling her hair because it took too long, but Finn said he liked it and now she had curled her hair. Last week, Finn went shopping with Rachel to help her pick out a dress for tonight. Rachel had loved a tight red dress and been about to buy it when Finn said he preferred the black one. Without hesitation she had bought the black dress. When Finn was dating his ex-girlfriend it had been Rachel who hated her and had been ecstatic when they broke up. Maybe she did feel the same...

"I love you."

"I love you too." Rachel smiled and wrapped her arms around Finn.

"No," Finn pushed her away and looked her in the eye. "Rachel, _I love you."_

Rachel's face morphed into confusion as she frowned at Finn. "I don't understand..."

"I can't do this any more, Rachel. I can't pretend that I'm OK with being your friend, because I'm not. I don't want to be your friend any more. I don't want your dads to let me sleep at your house because our relationship is platonic. I don't want to be the person that you call to tell about all the great guys that you've met while you're in New York. Instead, I want to be your boyfriend. I want your dads to make us leave the bedroom door open when we're upstairs because they don't us to have sex. I want to be the great guy that you tell the people in New York about. I want to be your boyfriend because I am completely, utterly, hopelessly in love with you, Rachel Berry. And I want you to love me too."

Rachel lifted a hand to wipe away a tear that was rolling down her cheek. She didn't say anything for a few seconds, which felt more like hours to the incredibly nervous Finn. But eventually, she opened her mouth. "I do love you. I love you too. I'm completely, utterly, hopelessly in love with you too."

Finn's mouth stretched into the biggest smile imaginable. "Really?"

"Really."

Finn tucked a stray strand of Rachel's hair behind her ear before crashing his lips against hers. Rachel instantly reciprocated, turning it into the most passionate kiss that she could muster. Finn wrapped his arms around Rachel's waist while she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Finn may have been in love with Rachel for most of his life, but this kiss made it worth the wait.

And suddenly, this party wasn't so sad after all.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading my first story! Please leave me a review to let me know if you think this is a good idea, if you would like to read future one-shots of mine, and if you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Finally, don't forget to send in your requests for a song/story that you'd like me to write. You can either leave them in a review or DM me :)**


	2. Begin Again

**A/N: Just to remind you that each chapter is a different song and a different story, so each one shot is completely unrelated to the last.**

 **This chapter is inspired by a song that I love: Begin Again by Taylor Swift. If you haven't heard it then I would strongly recommend giving it a listen. It beautifully tells the story of getting over someone and a new relationship beginning. Enjoy!**

 **Lastly, this story is written in the first person from Rachel's POV. I'm just experimenting with this writing style so leave me a review and let me know if I've done it well :)**

* * *

 _And you throw your head back laughing like a little kid,_  
 _I think it's strange that you think I'm funny 'cause he never did,_  
 _I've been spending the last eight months_  
 _Thinking all love ever does is break, and burn, and end,_  
 _But on a Wednesday in a cafe I watched it begin again_

* * *

8 months.

It had been 8 long months since I had last been on a date, which my best friend, Quinn Fabray, thought was a ridiculously long time. She had given me the 'You Need To Get Back Out There' speech so many times that I could recite it for you right now. However, I'll just give you the general message, which is "Just because one relationship ended badly it doesn't mean they all will," and "You're not getting any younger, Rach, so you need to get back in the dating game." Oh, and who can forget the classic, "The right guy is right around the corner."

But my last relationship hadn't just ended badly, it had crashed and burned. Allow me to explain the disaster that was Brody Weston.

I met Brody just after I'd moved to New York and we hit it off right away. In fact, it didn't take long before we were dating and were convinced that we were in love. But we weren't. Well, I loved him, though he only loved the person that he'd changed me into. You see, there were so many things that Brody didn't like about me that I was willing to change who I was to please him. Anyone who knows me knows that that is incredibly out of character for me: Rachel Berry, but love makes you do crazy things.

I started to wear heels everyday because Brody thought that I was too small without them; I only listened to music through my headphones because Brody didn't 'get' the show tunes that I love; and, worse of all, I got a job in advertising because Brody thought that I needed to get over my 'childish' dream of being on Broadway and get a 'real job'.

I am eternally grateful that Quinn stepped in when she did. Quinn showed me what Brody had turned me into and reminded me of the old Rachel Berry. After that, every time that I looked in the mirror I hated myself, because the old Rachel Berry would have never changed who she was to please a man. She would have known that she was better off without him. So, I went to see Brody to tell him that if he wanted our relationship to work then he had to accept me for who I really was. However, when I got to his apartment I found him in bed with the girl who lived downstairs. Needless to say our relationship ended right there and then.

That's when I swore to myself that I wouldn't date again, because it only ended in tears; usually mine. I quit my job in advertising so that I could seriously pursue my career on Broadway, and I turned back into the old Rachel Berry.

The only problem was that Quinn had a friend called Finn Hudson. One day, Quinn made the comment that Finn and I would make a cute couple, which I laughed off and didn't think too much about. Then, Quinn said that our personalities would be quite compatible too, which I again tried to laugh off. But then Quinn decided that she was going to set us up on a blind date, which was an idea that I obviously didn't like as it broke my 'no dating' rule. So, why was I now about to leave for this blind date?

It wasn't much of a blind date, anyway. I knew that his name was Finn Hudson, so I'd obviously looked him up on every form of social media. I now knew what he looked like; I knew that he played the drums; I knew that he was in a band with some of his friends, (they're actually quite good, if their cover of Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing' is any indication); I knew that he was a teacher; I knew that he was dating a girl called Lucy six months ago (they broke up but are still friends, though she's now dating a guy called Dave); and I also knew that back in 2012 he went on vacation to Hawaii and had a good time.

Finn seemed like a perfectly nice guy, but that didn't matter to me. I'd only just got over Brody and I didn't want to get my heart broken again.

* * *

My heart was pounding by the time I reached the café for my date. It was stupid that I was so nervous because I'd already come up with a plan to make this date a one-off: I was going to be myself. It sounded stupid, but being myself usually sent men running for the hills, and I assumed Finn would be no exception.

I checked the time on my phone, disappointed to see that I was a couple of minutes early. If I knew anything about men, it was that they were always late. I sighed and stepped into the café, deciding I may as well wait in the warmth instead of in the frosty New York air.

As soon as I stepped inside, my eyes were drawn towards a man sitting in the corner of the room. I recognised him straight away: it was Finn Hudson, my date. I felt slightly guilty for presuming that he would be late when he had actually arrived early. Maybe I shouldn't generalise guys and maybe I should give Finn the benefit of the doubt.

Finn also looked a little nervous, which made me feel better because I knew that I wasn't alone. He roamed his eyes around the room until they landed on me, then they immediately widened as he stood up. Clearly Finn hadn't liked the idea of a blind date either and he must've done his own research on _me._ How else would he have known what I looked like? We had never met lifted his hand into an awkward little wave that made me smile as I walked over to him.

"Hey, you're Rachel, right?" Finn said when I reached the table.

I nodded with a polite smile as I said, "And you must be Finn."

"The one and only." He replied, pulling his mouth into the most adorable half-smile. However, I didn't have much time to appreciate it as it immediately faltered. "Well, I suppose that technically I'm not the only Finn, there are many other Finn's in the world, but I'm the only Finn Hudson." I nodded my head with a smile, trying to hide my amusement at his awkwardness. "Wait, but that might not be true either." I raised my eyebrows as he kept talking. "Although I've never met someone else called Finn Hudson, there may be someone somewhere, maybe in Florida or Washington or something." At this point it was pointless even trying to hide my amusement at his awkward stammering, the wide smile on my face probably gave me away. "Sorry," Finn continued. "I should just shut up. I get a little nervous when I'm around beautiful women."

"You think I'm beautiful?"

Finn's face flushed a deep shade of pink as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well... Uh... I... Yeah." He said sheepishly.

A warm feeling filled my chest and spread down to my stomach, making me feel like a high school girl who had just been smiled at by her crush.

"Shall we sit?" Finn said, obviously trying to change the subject. I nodded my head as Finn walked around the table and pulled out my chair, helping me into it like you see guys do in those cheesy romantic comedies. In the year that Brody and I dated, he never did that to me.

"Wow, so chivalrous." I commented, watching as Finn sat in his own seat. He was so tall that it seemed surprising that his long limbs could fold onto the small chair. I realised that I wasn't wearing heels today so we must've looked comical standing next to each other; he was abnormally tall and I was abnormally small.

"Thanks," Finn smiled, before furrowing his brows together in confusion. "I think."

I took the time that Finn was deciding what to order to study him closely, and appreciating how different he was to Brody. Finn's hair was slightly messy, like he hadn't touched it since rolling out of bed that morning, yet it still looked amazing; his eyes pulled me in like a magnet, making it hard for me to break eye contact whenever he looked at me; he also had the most adorable, child-like dimples in his cheeks when he smiled, making him look like a little kid when he laughed. He was so attractive that just looking at him made my heart race, but he wasn't arrogant about it, almost like he didn't know.

All I could think was that if I had to go on a date once every 8 months, then I was glad it was with someone like Finn.

* * *

Finn went to order some drinks and muffins for us, then carried them on a tray back to our table. I could barely keep my eyes off him the entire time, and there was a small smile on my face that I just couldn't erase.

"Well, if teaching doesn't work out then I think it's safe to say you have a promising future as a waiter." I joked as he placed the tray back on our table. Finn laughed too, something that I wasn't used to because Brody never laughed at my jokes or found me all that funny. However, Finn's laughter didn't last long as he looked confused as he sat down. "What is it?" I asked.

"I just didn't think that I'd told you I was a teacher yet."

I flushed pink as I realised my mistake and looked down in embarrassment as I said, "Well, I may have googled you before we came today." I looked up to see Finn smirking at me and got even more embarrassed. "Great, now you think that I'm some crazy stalker."

"No, no, not at all." Finn said, though he was laughing as he said it. "Just remind me to check under my bed when I get home tonight to make sure you're not hanging out under there."

"Finn!" I whined, throwing my napkin across the table at him. He threw his head back as he laughed, making me laugh too as I found it infectious. Eventually our laughter died down and that's when Finn added, "I'm kidding. I looked you up on facebook too."

"Really?" I asked, as he confirmed my suspicions from earlier. That was how he knew who I was when I walked in.

"Yeah. By the way, you looked great in that bikini when you went to Florida that summer." That earned Finn another napkin to the face.

Once we got settled, he asked me some questions about myself, including what I did for a living. I told him that I was currently just a part-time waitress to pay the bills while I auditioned for Broadway musicals.

"That's awesome." He said, surprising me. When I had told Brody he had laughed at me, thinking that I was joking. He told me that the chances of me making it on Broadway were minuscule, and maybe I should think of a plan B.

"You think so?"

"Of course! Have you had any good auditions recently?" Finn asked, seeming genuinely interested as he sipped his coffee.

"Well, I recently auditioned for the role of Maria from West Side Story, but I didn't get it." I tried not to sound too disappointed, even though I was quite upset by it. Finn wrinkled his nose, but I didn't want his pity so I continued, "But next week I have an audition for my dream role in Funny Girl."

He raised his eyebrows as if he was impressed. "Well you definitely have the look for Fanny Brice. If I was the casting director, I'd give you the role."

"How did you know I was auditioning for Fanny Brice?" I asked with a frown, as I hadn't mentioned the name of the part.

"I just assumed that the dream role in Funny Girl would be the funny girl herself: Fanny Brice." Finn shrugged casually.

"You've seen Funny Girl?" I said, raising my eyebrows at Finn.

"More times than I care to admit." Finn said with an uncomfortable laugh. "My step-brother _loves_ musical theatre so I've always been forced to watch musicals with him. Funny Girl is one of his favourites, though I personally prefer Rock of Ages."

I smiled, feeling my heart speed up because I could have never spoken about this stuff with Brody. "Yeah, that's a good one too. I also love Wicked and Chicago."

Finn smiled at me and nodded. "I gotta say, I don't think I've ever met someone who knows as many musicals as my brother."

"Well, your bother sounds like a very interesting man, I'm sure we'd get on splendidly."

"Oh, without a doubt." Finn confirmed confidently. "I'll introduce you sometime."

My smile faltered slightly, as my nerves suddenly grew. However, the only think making me nervous was the fact that after only one date the thought of meeting Finn's family didn't seem bizarre. It felt right.

* * *

Finn, proving once and for all that chivalry wasn't dead, decided that he would walk me home. He even gave me his jacket when I shivered, which drowned me because he was so much taller, but smelled of Finn's cologne so I didn't mind. For a while, we walked in a comfortable silence which made me smile to myself. Only one date and we were this comfortable together.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" Finn asked, breaking the silence.

"Go ahead."

"Quinn told me that you've been out of the dating game for a while, why is that?"

The memories of Brody came back to me bringing with them a solemn mood. I looked down at the concrete in front of me while I answered. "Bad breakup."

Finn nodded understandingly and I wondered if he would ask more questions. If he would use this as an excuse to find out why my previous boyfriends had broken up with me, to see if there was anything that would make him run. "Do you want to talk about it? If not, then I can tell you about the musicals that my brother makes the whole family watch every Christmas." Was all Finn asked, making me smile at how considerate he was. He didn't want to push me to talk about something that I didn't want to talk about.

I stopped walking, not just because we had reached my apartment building, but also because I wanted to look at Finn while we spoke. I liked seeing his reactions when I said things. Whether or not he would pull what I had concluded was his signature half-smile, or whether he would furrow his eyebrows in confusion or disagreement.

"I don't really want to talk about." I said, for the first time in a while. My Brody Weston rant had become one of my favourites, which is why Quinn thought I still wasn't over him. "It's in the past now. I'd much rather think about my future." As I had expected, Finn raised the right side of his lips into a half-smile, creating a dimple in his cheek. "Which reminds me," I continued. "I would love to hear about your family's Christmas movies, but I should be going, so how about we meet up again sometime and you can tell me then?"

Finn's mouth burst into a full-on smile, giving me butterflies in my stomach. I had caused that happiness. Just me being me. He liked me for me.

"I'll call you." Finn said, his smile never wavering.

"I'll be waiting." We stood smiling at each other for a moment, as I didn't want to leave. However, I knew that I had to.

Eventually, I took off Finn's jacket and handed it back to him. As I did, I stood up on the tips of my toes and kissed his cheek, right where his dimples formed when he smiled. When I pulled away, I could see a pink glow on Finn's face and a smile plastered onto his lips.

"See you soon." I said, while Finn lifted his arm into another awkward wave.

Finally, I could forget about Brody, because I was falling in love again, right before my eyes.

I was watching it begin again.

* * *

 **A/N: So, what did you all think? Do you prefer it when I write in first person or third person? Please let me know.**

 **I'd also like to remind you that I would love it if you sent me your requests for songs that you'd like me to base a story on. I have a few ideas, but I'd like to know that you're enjoying the songs I'm choosing.**


End file.
